ABSTRACT
On any given day, there are as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the United States. In addition, every year, tens of thousands of people vanish under suspicious circumstances. še facts are sobering and lead to what has o«en been referred to as “the nation’s silent mass disaster.”1 Some of the missing are found or have chosen to go missing. Tragically, others either arrive home in a cožn, or they lie, unidenti—ed, among the many thousands of sets of unidenti—ed human remains throughout the country and the world. Some cold missing persons cases-with and even without bodies or skeletal remains-turn into homicides. Stories of the families waiting for word of their loved ones are heartbreaking, but, with the advancement of technology, there is hope.
